Conor Bradley is not expected to make an imminent return from injury, though the Liverpool right-back could be hopeful of featuring before the season is over.
Bradley has already missed the last six games for Liverpool with a hamstring injury, and the issue has forced him to sit out Northern Ireland’s friendlies with Switzerland and Sweden this month.
That, combined with the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez, has pushed Jarell Quansah into the starting spot at right-back.
But while there had been hopes Bradley could return after the international break, that seems unlikely at this stage.
Instead, Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill has suggested the 21-year-old is facing a more realistic return date towards the end of the season.
“He’s frustrated, but his initial frustration has kind of subsided a little bit and his focus is on trying to get fit for the end of the season because there is so much to play for,” O’Neill told the Belfast Telegraph.
“Liverpool have the league run-in which every player will want to be involved in, so I think the focus is on getting himself fit, and Conor is very diligent on that side of things.
“He will do everything possible to get fit and follow Liverpool’s guidance.”
Quansah is Liverpool’s only fit right-back
With Alexander-Arnold and Gomez both likely to miss the majority of the rest of the campaign, that leaves Quansah as the de facto first choice for a crucial run of fixtures.
Liverpool are not in action again until April 2 when Everton visit Anfield, which gives Alexander-Arnold more time to recover from his ankle injury.
But Quansah is likely to start in the Merseyside derby – pending any issues of his own on duty with England this month – with the rest of Arne Slot‘s right-backs focusing on their recovery.
When it comes to Bradley, his national team manager believes inexperience may be a factor in his frequent muscle injuries.
“It’s difficult when your options are sporadic as Conor’s have been at times and when you come into a game, you want to show what you can do,” O’Neill said.
“We all know that Conor is a player who plays at full throttle all the time.
“We have talked about this that possibly he maybe needs to learn how to manage himself a little bit through the games at times.”
He added: “With the intensity of the Premier League, you only have to be at a game live to understand that it is difficult to go into that situation, but Conor will be fine.
“He will be raring to go and, hopefully, he will finish the season strong and will then be available for us in June.”
Liverpool are also without midfielder Tyler Morton heading into the break, while Harvey Elliott limped out of the Carabao Cup final but is still expected to join the England U21s.
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